2006.04.04: April 4, 2006: Headlines: COS - Bangladesh: Safety and Security of Volunteers: Weekly Blitz: Dr. Richard Benkin says Peace Corps withdrawal undermines Bangladesh’s War on Terror
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2006.04.04: April 4, 2006: Headlines: COS - Bangladesh: Safety and Security of Volunteers: Weekly Blitz: Dr. Richard Benkin says Peace Corps withdrawal undermines Bangladesh’s War on Terror
Dr. Richard Benkin says Peace Corps withdrawal undermines Bangladesh’s War on Terror
"It is often a surprise to Americans when they learn that only one in five Muslims live in the Middle East, even if we include non-Arab Iran in that mix. Most Muslims live in non-Arab Asia, in places like Indonesia, Malaysia, and Bangladesh. Even India and China have large Muslim populations that exceed those of most Arab nations. That is where the real War on Terror is taking place, where the forces of good—Muslim and non-Muslim together—can battle effectively for the hearts and minds of the people. For should our common enemies ever succeed in radicalizing those populations to the same degree they have in the Arab world, our road to a peaceful and better world will be a difficult one indeed" says Dr. Benkin.
Dr. Richard Benkin says Peace Corps withdrawal undermines Bangladesh’s War on Terror
American Action Undermines Bangladesh’s War on Terror
Dr. Richard L. Benkin writes from USA
We Americans are proud of our refusal to negotiate with terrorists. Throughout the reign of PLO terror attacks in the 1970s, we stood firm against the terrorists and encouraged others to do the same. We refuse to send our people’s tax money to the new Hamas-led Palestinian Authority since that group is guilty of unabashed terrorism. We do not treat with nations like Iran and Syria that support international terrorism. Americans even invaded two nations—Afghanistan and Iraq—to put an end to their terrorist-supporting activities.
Two years ago, Americans reacted with almost uniform outrage when the people of Spain acceded to terrorist demands within days after an al-Qaeda bombing in Madrid killed 191. Their action, we said, sent a clear message to the perpetrators that terrorism works. Coming on the heels of the attack, the Spanish vote to install a new government that would follow policies more friendly to al-Qaeda announced that terrorism will bring its practitioners the results they want. Writing in The New York Times, David Brooks asked, “What is the Spanish word for appeasement?”
Yet, that is exactly the message Americans sent to Bangladeshi terrorists last week when the Peace Corps suspended operations here and ordered its volunteer staff out of the country immediately. The Corps attributed its move to fear of retaliation against westerners after Bangladesh captured two top terrorist leaders.
As Bangladesh Foreign Minister M. Morshed Khan told reporters, there might have been a point to the action if taken “before the arrest of militants”; but coming after over 700 arrests and the capture of terrorist leaders, Sheikh Abdur Rahman and Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai, the decision is “unacceptable."
Minister for Home Affairs, Lutfuzzaman Babar, whose terror fighting Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) made the arrests, denied the existence of any threat to US or other western interests. He noted that neither the Peace Corps nor the US government ever communicated their concerns to the Bangladeshis, which would have helped Bangladesh allay any fears and also focus its anti-terror operations. Instead, he said, the move undermines those efforts.
One Bangladeshi accused the US of “aiding the terrorists we’re trying to fight,” and noted that the Corps continues operating in Kenya and Jordan, where westerners have been attacked, while "no Americans have ever been victims of terrorism in Bangladesh."
Americans tend to focus on the Arab world when picturing the terrorist threat, and Islam in general; which only stands to reason. The terrorists who attacked the United States on September 11, 2001, were Arabs. Groups like Al Qaeda, Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas are essentially Arab. Hizbullah—the “Party of God”—responsible for the murder of 241 US Marines is Arab as well. Prominent firebrands like Osama Bin Laden, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the late Yassir Arafat, and others are all Arabs. But this tendency sometimes has Americans viewing all of Islam through the lens of Arab nationalism.
It is often a surprise to Americans when they learn that only one in five Muslims live in the Middle East, even if we include non-Arab Iran in that mix. Most Muslims live in non-Arab Asia, in places like Indonesia, Malaysia, and Bangladesh. Even India and China have large Muslim populations that exceed those of most Arab nations.
That is where the real War on Terror is taking place, where the forces of good—Muslim and non-Muslim together—can battle effectively for the hearts and minds of the people. For should our common enemies ever succeed in radicalizing those populations to the same degree they have in the Arab world, our road to a peaceful and better world will be a difficult one indeed.
Bangladesh is the world’s second largest Muslim nation and has been fighting valiantly against both home grown and foreign radicals. Your success will be our success; your failure will be ours to pay, as well. And it behooves us as allies in the same War on Terror to support Bangladesh in its efforts. The United States, for instance, must recognize what an important force we have standing with us in RAB, and how both Lutfuzzaman Babar and the BNP are extending themselves within a complex social and political milieu.
US anti-terrorist strategy must focus more on strengthening our Asian Muslim allies; for they are fighting a War Against Terror that we can win together. We also must take heed of Babar’s warning and better coordinate our actions with Bangladesh and the other nations of non-Arab Asia. Otherwise, we run the risk of rewarding our common enemies. Further actions, such as passage of a US-Bangladesh Free Trade Agreement will also undermine our enemies by benefiting the people of Bangladesh and strengthening ties between our peoples. Finally, American officials should encourage the Peace Corps to reverse its unfortunate action and return to Bangladesh where its members can show the people of Bangladesh the goodwill of the American people.
When this story was posted in March 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:
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Story Source: Weekly Blitz
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Bangladesh; Safety and Security of Volunteers
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